Jojoba is considered a promising oil crop and is cultivated for diverse purposes in many countries. The jojoba seed produces unique high-quality oil with a wide range of applications such as medical and industrial-related products. The plant also has potential value in combatting desertification and land degradation in dry and semi-dry areas. Although the plant is known for its high-temperature and high-salinity tolerance growth ability, issues such as its male-biased ratio, relatively late flowering and seed production time hamper the cultivation of this plant. The development of efficient biotechnological platforms for better cultivation and an improved production cycle is a necessity for farmers cultivating the plant. In the last 20 years, many efforts have been made for in vitro cultivation of jojoba by applying different molecular biology techniques. However, there is a lot of work to be done in order to reach satisfactory results that help to overcome cultivation problems. This review presents a historical overview, the medical and industrial importance of the jojoba plant, agronomy aspects and nutrient requirements for the plant’s cultivation, and the role of recent biotechnology and molecular biology findings in jojoba research.
Seeds from six selected jojoba genotypes were used in this study. Seed samples were analyzed for oil, protein, total carbohydrate, and simmondsin contents. The genetic relationships among jojoba genotypes were also determined. Highly significant differences among the genotypes were found for oil, protein, total carbohydrate and simmondsin contents. Genotype MD 8 recorded the highest oil content (54.95%), whereas genotype HD 6 had the lowest oil content (47.17%). However, the highest protein content (16.98%) and the highest carbohydrate value (33.97%) were found in genotype HB 6, which differed significantly from all the other genotypes. The significant variations in the studied characteristics observed among the genotypes might reflect, in part, their different genetic backgrounds. The inter-simple sequence repeat ISSR-derived data were evaluated to calculate the genetic similarity (ISSR-GS). The genetic similarity coefficient varied between 0.60 and 0.90. Cluster analysis was conducted to generate a dendogram to elucidate the relationships among jojoba genotypes. The dendogram generated using pooled ISSR data divided the jojoba genotypes into two main clusters. Genotypes HB8 and MD8 were found in the same sub-cluster using ISSR primers. These genotypes also had almost similar values for most chemical traits.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.